To the editor,
On Monday, October 4, an important public informational meeting related to climate change and agriculture will take place in Jefferson. The proposal that will be on the table, however, is a misguided, and even dangerous, solution to the urgent crisis of our climate.
The proposal is for a carbon dioxide pipeline in northeast Greene County for what is called Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). Carbon dioxide emissions from the ethanol plant will theoretically be captured, compressed from gas into liquid, and transported through 2,000 miles of pipeline to be stored underground in North Dakota. (Des Moines Register, “Iowa farmers facing another pipeline fight,” September 26, 2021).
There are several serious concerns surrounding this proposed project which is classified as a hazardous liquid pipeline.
A leak anywhere along the pipeline of this concentrated form of carbon dioxide would be a real and immediate hazard to people and animals.
As with the Dakota Access pipeline, eminent domain powers may be used to force landowners to allow this pipeline to cross their property.
The liquid carbon dioxide may not in fact be stored, but may instead be used for enhanced oil recovery to access deep pools of oil. Carbon that is stored may not stay underground but could be released by an earthquake, for example, with catastrophic results.
While many of us now recognize the critical need to address climate change, boiling down our multiple environmental crises to only focus on the climate, and then to further simplify the problem to one of carbon is a distraction. CCS is not a climate solution but has become an investment opportunity for big corporations with no actual benefit to the environment at all. Alternative solutions that more comprehensively address the range of environmental issues related to both the agriculture and the fossil fuel industries will continue to be sidelined and ignored.
No doubt the information handed out to the public will paint a rosy picture; asking questions and insisting on clear answers are necessary to ensure we truly confront the issues before us. We can stand up and say NO to this pipeline. We won’t be alone. More than 500 organizations signed a letter in July 2021 to US and Canadian government officials calling for them to reject CCS as a climate solution.
The public informational meeting will be at 5 pm at the Greene County High School on Monday, October 4, 2021. This is one of a series of meetings in all 30 Iowa counties affected by this pipeline. Written comments or objections to the proposed pipeline can be filed electronically using the IUB’s Open Docket Comment Form, by email to customer@iub.iowa.gov, or by postal mail to the Iowa Utilities Board, Attn: Docket No. HLP-2021-0001, 1375 E. Court Ave., Des Moines, IA 50319.
Patti Naylor, Churdan
